View full sizeMark Humphrey, Associated PressThe mostly friendly duel between American swimmers Ryan Lochte, left, and eight-time 2008 Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps at the U.S. Trials in Omaha began with interviews on Saturday. Lochte beat Phelps in the 400 IM Monday.

OMAHA, Neb. -- The dimple popped in Ryan Lochte's right cheek, and if the first official Olympian of the U.S. Swimming Trials looked any more at ease, he would have been catching a nap on the bottom of the pool, no matter how loud the crowd cheered.

"I can take a deep breath and relax now," Lochte said with a grin after beating Michael Phelps in the 400 individual medley on Monday night, "and whatever happens, happens. I'm just going out to have fun."

Second to Phelps in the 400 IM in the 2008 trials, second to Phelps in the 200 IM in both the 2004 and 2008 trials, Lochte in fact had never won an event at the Olympic trials, though he did win one individual gold at the 2008 Olympics.

But when he stood on the winner's podium that rose from the ground, wearing winged American flag high-tops and a black T-shirt of himself, exposing the Olympic rings tattoo on his triceps as he smiled and waved to the crowd of 11,207, he couldn't have looked more at home.

The 27-year-old has said this is his time. Start the clock.

"I'm definitely ready to tear it up in London and show people what the USA is all about," Lochte told the screaming fans at the CenterLink Center after stopping to hug his family on his victory lap around the pool deck.

"My mom was bawwwling her eyes out," Lochte said. "She said, 'Thank God you made it so we're not going to London by ourselves.' "

Like that was possible. At the moment, you can't imagine American swimming without Lochte. Phelps' dominating eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics raised the sport's profile, but Lochte might be even more comfortable as its rock star.

"They gave me wings. Ha, ha," he laughed to himself after stopping to flash his shoes to photographers after his victory news conference.

Phelps locked up his first spot on the team by finishing second in 4:07.89, behind Lochte's winning 4:07.06. In the morning prelims, Phelps swam a 4:14.72 that Lochte called the smoothest 4:14 he had ever seen. But after Lochte swam a 4:10.66 in the morning, Phelps almost knew he was swimming for second Monday night.

Considering that Phelps won 14 of the 16 Olympic events he entered in 2004 and 2008, and that he doesn't have a silver medal in his 16-medal Olympic collection, second should be strange. But with only the top-two finishers advancing to London, Phelps said his focus was holding off third-place finisher Tyler Clary, who must deal with the hard luck of being the fourth-fastest 400 IM swimmer in history and having two all-timers in Lochte and Phelps ahead of him. For a moment at about 300 meters, entering the final freestyle stage, Bowman admitted he was a bit worried about Phelps retaining second.

"The crowd definitely played a big role in giving me energy my last 150, so I was very pleased with that," Phelps said. "I was just trying to put myself in a good position."

In the two other finals Monday night, Elizabeth Beisel won the women's 400 IM to make her second Olympic team, with Caitlin Leverenz, who had finished third once and fourth twice at the 2008 trials, taking second to make her first Olympic team. And in the men's 400 freestyle, two-time gold medalist Peter Vanderkaay took first, while Conor Dwyer made his first team in second place.

But the best came right at the start.

Monday afternoon, between the prelims and final, both Phelps and Lochte had been awakened by a fire alarm at their hotel, a fact they laughed about after going 1-2.

"I heard it was a kid on the fourth floor," Lochte said. "I was like, 'I'm going to find that kid.' "

By Monday night, they were dealing with actual fire, as flames shot from poolside pyrotechnic boxes when the top three swimmers were neck and neck and neck at the halfway point.

"I saw that, and I was like, 'Something is going on here,' " Lochte said.

It was something. It was Lochte arriving, in his way, with a lot of events still ahead.

"I'm just out there having fun, goofing off," Lochte said after his morning swim. "And that's what I'll do through the meet."

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